By the Singing Shore
by SecretWr1ter
Summary: Remus fell back against the damp rocks, a loud pop ringing through his jaw. Pain was hammering through his mouth but he could only stare up at James in shock.  "Stay away from Lily. Or I'll break your nose next." Prongs left before the hot tears came.
1. Chapter 1

"Get off me, Sirius!"

Remus J. Lupin, who had stretched out on one of the best Gryffindor couches only minutes before, was just sat on by his best friend. Black came out of nowhere, the sly dog. He crept into the Common Room, wearing his signature arrogant smile, and threw himself over the back of the couch. His bottom hit Remus directly in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Sirius' elbow narrowly missed his face while his knee knocked his companion's book to the floor, page number unmarked.

"Really," wheezed Remus, "I can't breathe."

"Say it," said Sirius casually, pretending to inspect his fingernails.

"No," he breathed, feigning actual effort to push Sirius off. It wasn't that Remus couldn't force him off, he could. He just didn't want to step too far and try. Sirius was always in a better mood when you went along with his games.

But Remus' prefect badge was digging into his chest too painfully to go along with it much longer.

"Alright, alright. I'll do your Potions homework," said Moony, lowering his voice so only he could hear. "Now get off!"

Sirius leaned over and ruffled Remus' hair, jumping off of his best friend to go and lounge in an armchair that he scared a first year into surrendering. He shook his head as he watched Padfoot, trying to smooth his hair back over his forehead. A nasty scar was healing there.

"Where's James?" he asked as he pulled out a fresh roll of parchment and some ink from his bag.

"Quidditch practice. It's running late today," Sirius hissed bitterly. He would've been out on the field too if he hadn't been suspended for two weeks. Black had gotten into a tussle with a Slytherin on his way back to the Common Room, knocking the boy's teeth out with the stick end of his broom.

"Don't moan about it, Sirius. It's your own fault you got suspended." Remus didn't look up to catch the slightly venomous look that Padfoot threw his way. But he did manage to catch the expression fading back into an arrogant smirk.

"He deserved it though."

"You knocked his teeth out and then set his own bogey's to attack him," Remus reminded exasperatedly, beginning Sirius' Potion essay about the effects of the Draught of Peace. To this day it amazes Sirius how well Moony can imitate his handwriting.

Just as Padfoot was about to give another shrewd comment, a commotion erupted from somewhere behind them. Sirius tore his eyes away from a 6th year girl who had walked by and swept her blonde hair back for him and watched the short and round figure of Wormtail race towards them. His nose was bleeding from where he tripped and landed on his face. Blood was seeping through his fingers as he tried to babble out what he had to say.

"Slow down, Peter, I don't understand a word you're saying," said Sirius, a slightly amused look in his dark eyes. Remus, feeling bad for Peter because he put a show on back there for the rest of the Common Room, raised his wand and flourished it. Instantly the bleeding stopped and the red stains were cleaned away from his face and the collar of his shirt.

Peter barely nodded a thanks before he started stammering again. Remus shook his head, returning to Sirius' homework. Just as Wormtail was about to spill what he was nearly bursting to say, James plopped down beside Remus, making an ugly splotch of ink appear on the parchment.

"Sorry, Moony. Wait—that's Sirius' homework, isn't it? It's alright then, the teachers know his material is never spotless anyway." James flashed a tired grin at his best mate who laughed dryly, throwing Remus' book at him.

"Guys, that's not mine. Be careful with it," he warned. The others instantly jumped into prefect remarks as Remus bent back over Sirius' paper to finish. He could barely contain his smile.

"James!" squeaked Peter. "I'm glad you're here! I have something to tell you and Sirius." His beady eyes nearly shivered with excitement as he once again launched into his story. Remus vaguely listened. He was tired and wanted to finish this essay soon so he could drop by the library before curfew.

He had just finished the conclusion when both James and Sirius roared with laughter.

"Wait, hold on, Peter. So you're telling me," Padfoot stopped to give another hearty chuckle, "that these Slytherin bullies, gorilla sized Slytherins, were about to gang up on you when you said that me and Prongs are your best friends. And they simply walked away without another word?" Sirius slapped his knee as he continued to laugh, James smiling triumphantly as he leaned back against the couch. Of course they would be thrilled that their very names were enough to strike the pair with caution.

Remus rolled his eyes. Getting up, without being noticed, Moony walked around the couch and slipped the essay into Sirius' book bag. He was still too engulfed by the ongoing conversation to notice. So without a thank you, Remus gathered his things and left his friends still talking and laughing, and headed to the library.

James watched the retreating back of his best friend with a sad look.

"Hello, Remus," said Lily Evans, peering into the aisle, her green eyes ablaze under the light of a lit lantern above her.

In a clumsy tumble of paper and spinal bindings, the armful of books in Remus' hands went toppling to the floor. He stammered a hello and bent down to pick up the things he had dropped, very aware that his hands started shaking when she knelt beside him. The tips of her long red hair brushed over his arm as she reached over and removed a book from under the shelf. He had to remind himself to breathe.

"I'm almost sure we don't have _this_ much homework," Lily said, watching Remus as he shakily piled his belongings back into a stack, shifting them in his arms to stand. She gracefully stretched up beside him, a little smile still on her lips.

Remus didn't want to be caught staring so he walked past her to one of the empty work tables. To his delight he heard her footsteps echoing against the floor behind him as she followed. He tilted the books, and they slid out of his arms and onto the surface. Lily had taken the seat across from him and began to read through the titles he had chosen.

"I thought you already finished the essay about Red Caps? You got the best score in our class." She looked at him curiously for he had ducked his head and pretended to read a paragraph when his eyes weren't moving.

He had already finished. And besides Lily, he had gotten the best score. But James hadn't finished his for weeks and it was really starting to bring him down. The boy had Quidditch practices that stretched almost all night. Without being asked to, Remus had taken it upon himself to finish it for him. It's not like he was doing the whole thing. Prongs had gotten through half the required length of parchment.

Lily often scolded him for doing their work. 'They need to fail on their own,' is what she liked to say. But Remus didn't want to see him fail so he muttered something about extra credit research for DADA.

_Really, Moony? Extra credit? You're pathetic_, he reprimanded himself.

She shrugged and let it go, talking with Remus for, to his satisfaction, half an hour. They discussed homework, Gryffindor's Quidditch chances for the Cup, and how Hufflepuff's Damian Chance had melted his cauldron in Potions once again. She laughed at the lame joke he had about Slughorn's resemblance to a flat slug when he accidentally splashed some Swelling Solution on his face.

"It looks like we have a shy visitor," said Lily, nodding her head to point behind him. Remus looked over his shoulder to see Arabella Reed disappearing into the aisle. He only caught the whip of her brown hair but it was enough to see the red in her cheeks.

"Very shy," he agreed, thinking that was quite odd. Arabella never hesitated to say hi before.

"She fancies you, Remus," whispered Lily, leaning in closer so that no one nearby could hear. Lily's hair smelt of strawberries. He wanted to inhale while she was this close but that would be a rather creepy thing to do.

It was awhile before he remembered he was supposed to say something.

"Oh, re—wait what? She likes me? I highly doubt it, Lily." Remus chuckled, suddenly self conscious as he thought about all the reasons why Arabella wouldn't like him. He was tall and a bit gangly, with long legs. His face was constantly healing some kind of injury, hence why he always wore long sleeves. And his hair was a strange mixture of dirty blonde and brown, lengthy with defiant waves in random places.

Even his blue eyes seemed to give off a weird glint that he didn't like. It was like the sea, always changing, always adapting to different shades of blue and blue greens. He hated the constant instability.

Lily gaped at his reply. But she did it in an elegant way, flipping her hair over her shoulder so she could lean in closer to him, her words like a conspiracy passing from her lips.

_No, don't stare at her mouth, you idiot. _

"Why wouldn't she? You're wonderful, Rem!"

His face instantly deepened into a red that was too obvious to hide. Lily glanced at his blushing cheeks and smiled sweetly. His heart gave a lurch.

"She's not the only one in our year who has a thing for you. I just can't give names. Don't like to gossip," said Lily as she gave a playful wink just as that vulture of a librarian told them quite harshly to get a move on back to their dorms.

"Lily," called a voice he recognized as Iris Clough. He turned to see her beckoning to her friend, pale features a little anxious as she clutched her books to her chest. She was a Gryffindor too but he didn't talk to her much. Remus gave a small smile and she looked startled for a moment and gawked at him. Suddenly, as if remembering her manners, she gave a wave and looked back to Lily who was approaching her, bag slung on her shoulder.

"I'll see you later, Rem!" she called back as she was towed out the doors, red hair swinging behind her. He gave a shy smile and watched the space that she just occupied.

The faint scent of strawberries was still on the air when he got his stuff together to leave, grinning all the way back to Gryffindor Common Room.


	2. Chapter 2

"I'm telling you Padfoot, one day your metabolism is going to stop working and all that food you constantly shovel down your throat is going to go straight to your belly. Years from now Remus and I will be young and fit but you'll be peering over the hill to see your toes."

Remus snorted into his pumpkin juice. A loud roaring laugh erupted from the three best friends as Sirius ruefully put back that fourth helping of bacon and eggs, glancing conspicuously at his stomach between his grumbling. James gave Lupin a sly smirk as he took of his glasses and cleaned them with the sleeve of his robes. As expected, Wormtail was still hooting with delight at James' joke. That was until Sirius shot him a warning look over his glass of Marmalade.

Peter quickly went back to his toast.

With an affectionate nudge in the ribs Remus chuckled at Wormtail, helping himself to another piece of toast. He just bit into it before he started watching a group of first years down the table who were suspiciously passing something beneath the table. They caught Remus looking and the blonde little boy immediately ducked his head, snatching his hand back and innocently putting them both on the table in plain sight.

"Oi, James," Sirius said in a rather hushed voice, "here comes Lily."

With the charming attitude Remus could never dream of having, James slowly lifted his eyes from his food, tossed his untidy hair back with a smile and nodded a greeting to the passing girl.

"Hi, Lily," they all said in unison.

She flickered her eyes between the group and her little entourage of girls and gave a playful scoff as they broke out in a fit of giggles, lingering in the aisle a little to get better looks James and Sirius. As usual, they hardly spared a glance at Remus.

"Hello, boys," she said brightly, her green eyes flashing to each of her faces. His heart gave a little jump as he realized she gave him more than a fleeting look. She tucked a piece of her lovely hair behind her ear and said smoothly as if she did it every day, "Good morning, Remus."

"Yes, good morning, Remus," Arabella added coyly.

He tried to play it cool like Sirius and James. He gave her a shaky smile and moved to lean his elbow on the table. Instead of catching solid wood he caught a plate of eggs and bacon, making it suddenly clatter to the floor.

Embarrassed he stooped over the bench and levitated the ruined food back onto the plate before returning it to the table. The girls were laughing with their hands covering their mouths. As to hide his blushing face, Remus turned his back on them and pretended to be quite interested in the Daily Prophet that was just delivered by his owl, Seth.

The laughing stopped immediately as Sirius gave the girls a hard look, making them walk briskly towards the empty seats further away from them. Lily watched them with a slightly annoyed look before turning back and nodding her goodbyes to the boys. She caught Remus' curious eye when he turned to see if she had gone and gave him an apologetic smile. In a matter of seconds she joined her friends and helped herself to some toast.

"They acted like they've never seen someone have an accident at the breakfast table before, honestly." Sirius gave Remus a light smirk and he instantly felt a little better, glad for his best friend.

"Yes, that was rather smooth of you, Moony," chuckled James affectionately. He stuck a piece of bacon in his mouth and pointed his fork at Arabella. "She's a good looking girl, you know."

"Who, Arabella?" asked Sirius, taking the Prophet from Remus once he finished to eye the Broomstick catalog. "Yeah, killer legs that girl has."

"She smells nice. Like fruity perfume." Wormtail nodded his head in agreement.

"That settles it, then." James set his fork down and stared intently at Remus, wriggling his eyebrows.

"Wait, settles what?" Remus tugged at the collar of his shirt, suddenly uncomfortable.

"You're going to ask Arabella out, of course!" cried Sirius as he folded up the paper and tucked it into his robes, getting up. James followed, flinging his bag over his shoulder and adjusting his glasses, stealing a glance at Lily. Remus tried not to look too.

"I don't know how. And besides, she'll say no." He untangled his gangly legs from the bench and retrieved his things. Lily's smile was still lingering in his mind.

"No? Look at yourself, mate. She won't be able to resist Mr. Prefect! I mean, you're best friends with us so that must mean you're attractive," Sirius said, tossing his head over Remus' shoulder as they left the Great Hall. Wormtail squeaked an encouragement that he didn't hear.

He was too busy stopping himself from shouting out 'But I want to date, Lily!'

So he cleverly covered his train of thought by absently running his hand through his light hair, giving off the appearance of thinking. Suddenly, with a cheeky smile, he told Sirius,

"Maybe I do have a chance. After all, I'm better looking than you. AND I don't smell like wet dog half the time."

With another roar of laughter, Remus sped off down the corridor to the dungeons, forgetting that he was a prefect because Sirius was chasing after him, brandishing a fist in the air.

* * *

><p>Potions was brutal that day. Peter and James stood at one side of the table while Remus and James stood at the other. Their cauldrons were bubbling in front of them and the air held a burning scent that curled painfully into Remus' sensitive nose. James had retreated into a thoughtful silence as he read over the instructions, nodding occasionally to Sirius who kept talking through his work. At one point, when Remus decided to sneak a look at Lily, he saw Slughorn open his mouth to say something to Sirius but he just shut it and shook his head. Getting Padfoot to stop talking was indeed a hopeless cause.<p>

"Was I supposed to add the Pomegranate juice before or after the salamander blood?" asked Wormtail, his forehead glistening with sweat as he worked tirelessly to get his potion to turn the correct the color. Right now his Strengthening Solution was a bright orange when it was supposed to be yellow.

"After," said Remus shortly, stirring his potion clockwise a few times before changing directions. James glanced at Peter's chopped roots and slid them towards his own cutting board where he fixed them to be evenly cut. He tipped the roots over into Peter's cauldron for him before returning to his own work.

"Done." Sirius sat in his chair and leaned back, kicking both his feet up on the table after turning off the cauldron's fire. James stood on his toes to get a better look.

"You can't be done. I'm not even finished yet." Remus looked back and forth between their potions and he was a little bit behind. How Sirius ever got anything done considering how much he talks was beyond Moony.

"You're not the only smart one around, you know," Padfoot said boastfully.

"Oh please," came an oily voice from behind them. Remus and Sirius turned around and their eyes narrowed in an annoyed way. Wormtail gave a squeak of exasperation, making James look up, the very sight of Snivellus frustrating him. "Black has more brawn than brains, everyone knows that. He beats people up to get what he wants. There's nothing intelligent about him."

Remus gave a snort and grabbed Sirius' shoulder, forcing him to turn around. From experience he knew that Severus went away when you didn't encourage him.

But James was ready for retaliation.

"If I were you," said Prongs carelessly, dropping his roots into his cauldron, "I'd trade some of those cheeky brains of yours for a bit more strength. It's not normal for a second year to be able to physically bully a fifth year."

"For the record, Potter," he said the name like something you scrape off the underside of your shoe, "that second year was as big Sirius." His hooked nose turned up at the sight of Remus glaring at him.

"So you admit he kicked your ass?" Sirius gave a sly smile.

"No, I didn't say that – he didn't lay a grubby hand on me!" Snivellus was squirming now, his eyes darting to his Slytherin gang lingering several tables over, their dark eyes looming at them menacingly.

"Not what I heard," chimed Wormtail in a sing song voice, his crooked teeth flashing in a knowing smile.

"Yeah, now that you mention it, Peter, I did hear something too." Remus shut his cauldron fire off and pushed his finished potion aside, leaning against the countertop. "That you squealed like a girl when he raised his fist to squash that abnormally large nose of yours back into your face."

The Gryffindor side of the classroom rang out in laughter. James let out a hoot as Sirius gave a hearty guffaw, punching Remus playfully in the arm.

Snivellus was seething now, his sallow face twisted in angry. He glared at Remus from between the long curtains of his greasy hair. Moony gave a shrug and crossed his arms in front of his chest, looking rather tall now that he gained some of that Gryffindor courage against that pest Severus.

"That's enough, boys. Back to your own table." said Slughorn warningly. With hunched shoulders he shuffled back to his Slytherin crew, bent their heads together and began to whisper, throwing furtive looks at Remus who merely gave a lopsided grin in return. But he grew a little uneasy as he watched what they were doing with their hands. They were flailing them, pointing to places on the table and mimicking actions.

They were making a plan.

Sirius gave Remus a quick jab in the stomach. His attention swiveled back to his best friend and they both broke out in chuckles, packing up their stuff. Peter was hurriedly adding the last touches to his potion as Slughorn swayed behind him, looking over his shoulder.

Remus noticed James wasn't there anymore. His eyes scanned the room until he caught the glint of his glasses in the dim light of the dungeons. He was sitting on one of the tables, talking animatedly with a group of girls. It didn't take long for Remus to spot Lily's red hair amongst the cluster. She didn't look like she was paying much attention to him for she was shifting her weight foot to foot, glancing at Slughorn for the okay to leave.

He gave a soft smile when he saw that. But it quickly faded as she caught his eye, a disappointed look on her face. His heart dropped into his stomach as he tried to grapple for a reason why she would look at him like that. What did he do wrong? Was she mad at him?

Then it came to him as he witnessed her attention linger on the hunched form of Severus, her green irises dimming with what he could tell was sadness.

Remus immediately wished he could take his comment back.


End file.
